The eight Southern California police officers who mistakenly fired more than 100 shots at a car being driven by two women during a manhunt for suspected cop-killer Christopher Dorner last year will return to the field, officials now say.

Although both the chief of the Los Angeles Police Department and
a civilian oversight board agree that eight LAPD officers
violated official policy during the one-sided
shootout in Torrance, CA last February 7, an internal memorandum
obtained by members of the media on Wednesday reveal that those
cops will continue to work the streets of Southern California.

"I have confidence in their abilities as LAPD officers to
continue to do their jobs in the same capacity they had been
assigned," Police Chief Charlie Beck said in a department
message to officers on Wednesday, according to the Associated
Press. "In the end, we as an organization can learn from this
incident and from the individuals involved."

For violating department policy, Beck could have — but declined —
to terminate those eight officers, although additional, unnamed
disciplinary measures are still on the table, the AP reported on
Thursday.

"I appreciate that the officers involved in the incident took
action with intent of protecting the 'target' and his family;
however, the chain of events which unfolded and the extent to
which the use of lethal force occurred did not meet my
expectations, consequently there were innocent victims
wounded," Beck said.

As RT reported earlier this week, both Beck and a civilian review
board independently determined that the eight LAPD officers acted
improperly last year when they opened fire at a blue Toyota
Tacoma pickup truck presumed to belong to Dorner, a 33-year-old
former cop who was suspected of killing four people before being
declared dead days later at the end of an intense, multi-state
manhunt.

A police officer mistook that vehicle for Dorner’s grey Nissan
Titan and then, according to remarks made by Beck during a press
conference on Tuesday this week, began shooting when the sound of
a newspaper being thrown against the pavement was confused for a
gunshot.

Seven other officers then opened fire on the Toyota, injuring
both occupants — Margie Carranza, 47, and her 71-year-old mother,
Emma Jernandez. They were delivering newspapers at the time of
the incident, and were later awarded $40,000 by the city for a
new vehicle and an additional settlement valued at reportedly
$4.2 million.

"While I certainly empathize and understand the conditions
and circumstances that led to this particular officer-involved
shooting, I hold our police officers to the highest standards in
the application of deadly force," Beck told reporters on
Tuesday when the review group’s findings were made public.

Just hours later, though, the internal memo revealed that those
officials involved in the shooting won’t be sent off the street,
and instead will be asked to endure additional training and then
rejoin their colleagues on patrol.

“I trust that the training will be extensive and the
department and officers will move forward from this tragic
incident stronger and wiser from the lessons learned," Steve
Soboroff, the president of the civilian Police Commission, told
the AP.

Others — including the attorney for the injured women — disagree.

"If either of the women had been killed, you can bet your
bottom dollar somebody would be fired and maybe prosecuted,"
lawyer Glen Jonas told the AP. "A stroke of luck, firing more
than 100 rounds and missing, should not mean the discipline is
lighter."

On Thursday, the editorial board at the Los Angeles Times even
objected to the LAPD’s decision to allow those officers back on
the street.

“It's hard to imagine what could justify firing 28 times at
two unarmed women, or that an officer capable of such bad
judgment could be trusted in the future. But punishing the
officers or their superiors should not end this inquiry, which
should additionally determine whether those involved grossly
ignored their training or whether the training itself was
lacking,” the Times’ journalists wrote. “Beck is right to hold officers to
the highest standards and to demand accountability when they
misuse deadly force. He and the commission need to evaluate
possible shortcomings in training or tactical procedures that
were exposed by this event.”